Kermadec Expedition

October - November 2016

About the expedition

Filming a Kermadec Scalyfin (Parma kermadecensis) guarding its eggs on a previous voyage to the Kermadecs.

Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

This year's expedition to the Kermadecs is a collaborative research effort by a team of researchers from Auckland Museum, the University of Auckland, Massey University, NIWA and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

The region around the Kermadecs is a rich area for research. The area has only been lightly affected human activities and the waters include a large variety of ocean habitats through which marine mammals are known to travel.

The multi-disciplinary team of researchers on this voyage will investigate the biodiversity of organisms living on the ocean floor and at midwater, how marine mammal populations use the region, and examine what animal and plant species are shared between mainland New Zealand and the Kermadec region.

The underwater habitat at the Kermadecs is a unique world, supporting fish life not seen anywhere else. In this NZ Geographic video our Head of Natural Sciences, Tom Trnski, tells us what the research team expects to find.